Have you Googled yourself or your organization lately? If you haven’t, you definitely should. Being aware of what’s out there is the first line of defense in the rapidly expanding world of online reputation management.
First, the good news…
You probably won’t find anything that is particularly problematic. But, the full list of just what is out there about you individually and your organization can be really eye opening! You should see certain results pop up, both for you and your company. For individuals, you should expect to see results such as:
- Your bio page on your organization’s web site
- Your LinkedIn Profile
- Your Google Profile
- Your Facebook Page (depending on your privacy settings)
- A personal blog, if you have one and blog under your actual name
- Other references to you on the web, including places where you might be listed as a member, volunteer, sponsor or board member
- Links to other social media sites you participate in (depending on your privacy settings)
For your organization, if you’ve done a good job with SEO, you should expect to see results such as:
- Your company’s web site
- Google Places page
- Local links in Bing or Yahoo
- Your company’s Facebook page
- Listings on directory or local search sites, such as Yelp, Insiderpages, Yellowpages.com, etc.
- Links to employee or board member LinkedIn Profiles
- Other references to your organization on the web, including places where your company might be listed as a member, sponsor or contributor
But, what else might be lurking out there?
Sometimes, the answer to that question can be a little horrifying. Surprise results can range from the relatively benign – links to another person with the same name, which can create confusion, to the downright panic-inducing – finding an entire blog or web site dedicated to excoriating you or your business – and everything in between.
It is a little disconcerting to think about, but pretending that the information isn’t out there, really is not a viable approach to protecting and managing your online reputation. It is a fairly regular occurrence to find severely outdated or incorrect information about you or your organization. It might surprise you to know that Google has very little interest in verifying the “truth” of content they index. It is important to realize that the truth according to Google, is for all intents and purposes, considered to be the truth, period.
So, what can you do?
Knowledge is power and the first step in starting to address any misinformation in Google results is knowing that it is out there. We suggest that clients make it a regular practice to Google themselves and their organizations at least once a quarter (or more frequently if you sell directly to the public) so you know what’s out there. These days, you have to assume that at least 75% of potential customers or employees will Google your company at some point in their decision-making process. You need to know what they will see so you can be prepared to discuss it and professionally correct any misinformation you’ve found.
Preventive maintenance when managing your online reputation is always a good idea. If you discover a major issue in your searching, it may be time to bring in a professional to help mitigate the damage and start the hard work of repairing your online reputation.
If you pay close attention to Google – and most people probably don’t like I do – you may have noticed some changes in the way Google displays search results. The map has moved! It used to be in the main area of the page, right below the first three sponsored listings. Now, it is in the right column, above the column of paid listings and the locations on the map? They are now mixed in with the organic results in the main area of the page:
Google's new search results screenshot
What, if anything does this mean? It means different things to different users. For instance, for the average Google searcher, it probably doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot. You’ll still see a combination of paid/sponsored results, Google Places results (the map) and organic results. But for businesses and marketers, the change in how Google displays results is more significant.
Google is clearly trying to make its Places more important by taking up more space on the first results page. By making each Places listing it’s own quasi-organic search result, Google’s Places listings now account for a lot more of the results on page one of a Google search. The many local/review sites have been taking over the first page of Google’s results for the past couple of years – Yelp, InsiderPages, MerchantCircle, DexKnows, YellowPages, etc. and it seems that Google really wants a piece of that action.
What should you do for your business? Making sure you have created and/or claimed your Google Places page is great place to start. As these results are served more often and as search becomes more local every day, you’ll want to make sure you’re listed. How will this impact traditional SEO – the jury’s still out. It is definitely a topic we will be monitoring in the coming months! Stay tuned…
Google Maps are great right? Just type “tapas restaurant, philadelphia” into Google and in a split second you’ve got results before you, along with a handy map! Click on the links and you can visit the restaurant web sites or click on the More Info link and you can see the Google Places Page summary for the business.
Google Maps and the Places Pages they link to are great for consumers. They are not so great for businesses. Why not? If you claim your listing, you’ll show up in the Maps list for your target area and people can find you – what’s not to like?
Well, in addition to the information your provide them directly, Google pulls information from a variety of outside sources and aggregates it into your business’ Places Page. This can be problematic on multiple fronts:
- It is often hard to tell exactly where a particular piece of information on the Google Places Page is actually coming from, making it hard to correct errors
- Review and comments are prominently displayed within the Google Places Pages, but there is no mechanism for you, the business owner, to respond to a review within the Google system
- It has been widely reported that Google’s Places Pages are often quite slow in having reviews fall off their pages that have been removed from the source web site
- ANYONE can post a review about your business, including competitors, former employees or people who just don’t like you – there is no verification process that the reviewer was an actual customer of the business being reviewed
The effects of having a very negative review so prominently placed within a Google branded result can be devastating.
So what can you do? Start by claiming your listings. You’d be amazed at just how many places there are on the web where your business is probably listed. You can’t monitor something you’re not aware of…
Don’t have the time to claim and/or manage online listings? Consider hiring a professional to manage it for you – you’ll be glad you did! We’ve been doing a lot of work in this type of reputation management lately and would love to help you too!
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